U.s. Team In Laos To Search For Plane Shot Down In 1972

BANGKOK, THAILAND — A U.S. military excavation team arrived Monday in southern Laos to search for the remains of 14 American airmen whose plane was shot down in 1972.

The 11-man team arrived in the southern provincial capital of Savannakhet and was shuttled by two Lao helicoptors to the crash site 80 miles to the east, a U.S. military spokesman said.

The two-week operation, the second joint U.S.-Lao excavation of an American warplane, will get under way today.

The operation was aimed at finding the wreckage of an AC-130, code-named ''Spectre,'' which was shot down March 29, 1972.

Unexploded cannon ammunition is believed still in the wreckage, and the excavation team includes two explosives experts.

The aircraft, a transport plane outfitted with heavy weapons and sophisticated equipment for night vision, plunged into jungle foothills between the southern Laos towns of Muang Phin and Xepon.

A fighter plane reported that none of the 14 crew members parachuted from the AC-130. Rescue aircraft later detected the location of the crash site but made no voice contact with any survivors.

U.S. officials made a preliminary survey of the area last month and said it had been disturbed.

It is believed to be the same wreckage searched in 1984 by anti-communist guerrillas who claimed to have recovered the remains of three of the crewmen. Laos, the only communist Indochina nation that has diplomatic relations with Washington, will provide logistical support and on-site workers in the mission.